In a recent post on Imamother about how in just 5 months of marriage, the poster and her (mostly in Kollel) husband were in debt an anonymous poster wrote the following:

Wow I am so impressed with how people really live frugally. I am not the op but I wish I could do the same. I know that I spend way too much money but my dh would never listen to me if I tell him that we should cut down. Do people really not serve meat or chicken every night for supper? My dh would kill me if I just served him macaroni.

I have to say I am flabbergasted that people can be so pettystupidselfishblind.

Last week my husband and I sat down with all our bills and our bank statements and using Google Docs we made several spread sheets with regards to our finances.

After looking things over we decided we needed to cut down our grocery budget and the main way we were going to do that was to pretty much cut out chicken and meat during the week and limit the fish to canned tuna.

This week's menu was: Sunday we had HOMEMADE lentil burgers and baked ziti. On Monday we had potato latkes and fresh salad. Tuesday was a thick veggie-barley soup and Wednesday I bought a package of kebabs, cut them into bit sized pieces and added that to the soup. So we had meatball soup. Not sure what we'll be having tonight. (Here in Israel, dairy tends to also be crazy expensive. Ingredients for lasagna for 6 is 50NIS or more in just cheeses. Also by 'we' I mean my husband and myself, our 2 1/2 year old son and on Tuesday my 18 year old daughter)

Would I prefer fried chicken and entrecot steak? Of course.

But I also would prefer a roof over my head.

I really think that anyone who claims that their spouse will 'kill them' if they served mac and cheese for dinner needs to sit down with said homicidal spouse and plan the budget. If smacked with the cold hard facts that chicken every night is simply out of touch with the budgetary reality, I highly doubt your spouse will want to kill you.

For some things I don't do well with surprises and for the most part, don't really like spontaneity. Like meals. And having guests. I need to have it planned, I need to HAVE a plan.

Lately I've started shopping for Shabbat on Wednesday or even Tuesday and starting my cooking on Thursday. It's been making Fridays a lot more enjoyable.

This Thursday my father in law (FIL) will be arriving for a week. We've invited the Rabbi of our shul and his family to join us for the Friday night meal (his wife is a biologist) and we may have a new family join us as well. They just arrived this week and they have 18 and 20 year old daughters. Perfect for the girls.

In honor of my FIL being with us and as a Chanukat haBayit* we will also be hosting an Oneg Shabbat Friday night (which means members of the community are welcome to come by after dinner for cake and mixed nuts and maybe some booze).

So of course I've got a list of the cakes that will be made (and most will make multiple cakes so I'll be able to freeze).

Cinnamon-walnut babka (a crumb topped yeast cake), craisin and almond mandelbroit and a cherry topped yeast cake.

I'm still working on the actual menus.

Friday night we'll start with vegetable-kubbeh soup. The main dish will be felafel-crusted chicken, spinach kugel, sweet potatoes with sweet chili sauce and I'm not sure what else. Oh, regular chicken nuggets for the smaller kids.

Shabbat lunch will be a turkey version of a crock pot BBQ pulled pork recipe I found, home made cole slaw and probably a macaroni salad. Not sure what else. Suggestions of what traditional sides for pulled pork would be appreciated.

* The short version is a Chanukat haBayit is a dedication of the house. Traditionally it is done upon moving into a new home and there is a disagreement about whether it means only a house you own or also one you're renting. And since we've never done a Chanukat haBayit and haven't had much luck with the previous houses we've lived in, we figure we should try it. The whole thing basically involves serving food of some sort and saying several passages of Psalms.

First of all, how the hell do I get rid of the Hallowe'en theme on my LJ? Hallowe'en is long over and frankly, I didn't want it in the first place.

On to food. I bought a decent-sized roast (aka brisket) and will be making that for Shabbat. I'll be making it in a few minutes in the crock pot... with red wine. Wanted mushrooms but the store only had over-priced Shiitake mushrooms.

The side dishes to go with it will be: roasted potatoes (maybe also sweet potatoes), spinach-noodle kugel, roasted mixed veggies and probably white rice. Oh, and fresh salad. I'll be mixing the various sides for the two meals.

Dessert will be chewy granola bars (already made) and maybe a lemon cake but I'm not totally sure.

debka_notion will be joining us for Shabbat and upon asking her if she has any allergies or if she's vegetarian (I make a point of asking all my guests this), she informed me that she doesn't eat red meat and doesn't really eat chicken or turkey.

So there went my plans to make chicken breasts stuffed with mushrooms, onions and pine nuts served over spaghetti in vodka sauce. I got that idea after deciding the pretentious cole slaw would be made too.

Instead I will be making either a baked salmon fillet with roasted eggplant and garlic-tossed spaghetti or salmon cubes and spaghetti in a vodka cream sauce.

And the broccoli 'slaw' salad.

Before that I'll be serving potato bourekas with mushroom sauce.

Not sure what to make fr lunch though. Maybe an onion quiche... and I have no idea what else.

And I'll get to further perfect my tie-dye cheesecake skills...

Sometimes we have sandwiches for dinner. Sometimes it's because the boys won't let me cook and other times it's been planned.

Meatball subs - usually the day after I make meatball and spaghetti, we do 'take two' but instead of over pasta, the meatballs are placed over home made garlic bread (well, the baguette is store bought) and I spoon extra sauce over the whole thing. Definitely a fork and knife meal. And about half a dozen napkins.

Grilled cheese, and then some - saute fresh mushrooms and onions. Spoon over whole wheat mini baguettes. Place cheese (our usual is a combination of brie, cheddar, gouda and this last time I bought gruyere instead of cheddar) over the whole thing and stick in the oven until the cheese is all melty. Sometimes I'll serve it with a tomato and basil soup.

Monster burgers - the more stuff that gets thrown on it the more cooking/food shows I've been watching (primarily Man v Food). It often starts with about 1/4 to 1/3 pound per burger of ground beef and then it goes on from there. The meat is often seasoned with oregano and garlic powder. I've fried pepperoni salami and topped the burger with that. Often served with cole slaw and fries, sometimes baked beans...

Tuna quesadilla - canned tuna, drained, mixed with salsa. Smear on a flour tortilla, top with shredded cheddar. For extra heat, add pickled hot peppers. Top with a second tortilla and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the tortilla is slightly crispy and the cheese is melted.

So readers, what kind of grown up sandwiches do you make?

The girls will be going to my cousin for Shabbat. Not the best timing, but whatever. I think they'll have fun.

After we move I plan on inviting my aunt and uncle to spend Shabbat with us (12 years in this country and they've never come).

I bought a turkey breast at the supermarket on sale so I'll be making that for a meal. I'll marinade it in soy sauce, olive oil, brown sugar, black pepper, minced onion, minced garlic and minced fresh basil. Pour it into a pan over onions, potatoes and carrots and voila!

I was planning on making the kebab wrapped in chicken for the other meal, but now I'm not sure. Maybe I'll see if we can go out for lunch...

Make and freeze breakfast burritos in bulk... and in the comments, you've got lunch/dinner burrito ideas too.

I really wish Zach ate eggs.

Beans are in a bowl of water for an overnight soak and I'll cook them tomorrow. Eventually they will grow up to become a Mexican casserole.

The veggie quiche will be defrosted tomorrow - I actually made that on Friday and froze it.

The cake is made, I just need to cut it up and then frost it.

EN seems to have started his 3 month growth spurt - he spent the better part of today asleep and even when he nursed, he did it semi-consciously. He didn't nurse more frequently but he did nurse longer at each time.

The ENT gave me paperwork for EN to have his tongue-tie taken care of in the hospital. In hindsight I should have taken the paperwork to administration right then but I really needed to get home. I'll get the paperwork processed locally.

I saw an apartment today and it was a disaster.

Friday afternoon we see another place and I have to call another 2 people back tomorrow.

I'm going to collapse now. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I'm alone with the boys.... yeesh.

Shabbat lunch is going to be a bit of an experiment. The main dish is made up... well, at least *I* think it is. I've never had it or seen it so... I'm calling it made up.

Flattened chicken breast wrapped around a spicy beef kebab, dipped in egg, rolled in bread crumbs then baked.

Side dishes will be broccoli-noodle kugel and a garden salad.

I'm calling the lemon and vanilla extracts a success. The mint is technically still unknown, but I'm fairly certain it was a fail.


1 liter vodka, 4-5 vanilla beans. 7 weeks in a dark closet. I split and scraped the beans and added the scrapings to the vodka along with the beans. We decanted some of it after 7 weeks because I had just run out of the last batch. So about half is still in the dark closet with the beans. The color is a gorgeous honey-brown and the scent of vanilla is wonderful. And the taste.... whoa...


Empty the bottle of vodka into a bowl. Pour the juice of at least 5 lemons into the bottle along with strips of zest from at least 4 lemons. Fill the bottle with vodka and let it sit on a shelf for at least 4 weeks. I let it sit for almost 7 weeks before straining. The smell of lemony citrus was fantastic and the taste was a great balance of lemon and alcohol.

We won't discuss the mint here...